Hinata's Big Date
by DelinquentDuo
Summary: The Konoha Fireworks Festival is coming soon! But enough about that. What happens when the Hyuga Heiress gets caught spying on our favorite loudmouth? Ino and Sakura will answer that question to your face. Somewhat canon, NaruHina forever
1. Ghostly White Eyes

I put this fic up on Gaia first as a test run. Got a lot of good results.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and neither do you. Unless your name happens to be Masashi Kishimoto. In which case, you rock. Also, to those of you who have Gaia, DelinquentDuo BackwardsMan. So there.**

Chapter 1 – Ghostly White Eyes

Konohagakure. The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Beautiful? Yes. Peaceful?

"HUMAN BOULDER!"

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"

You wish.

Over on Asuma-sensei's training ground, Asuma, Shikamaru, and Ino look on as their teammate, Choji, has just bashed through a wall of Naruto clones ("STEE-RIKE!"). From a certain angle, it looks more like a glorified bowling game. Why are they doing this? Because it's training! It doesn't need to make sense!

"I don't get why he's doing this, Asuma," Shikamaru said.

"It's actually simpler than you think," Asuma responded, lighting a cigarette. "Naruto's training his body to withstand massive attacks. And I tell you, there aren't many things more massive than an Akimichi."

"I HEARD THAT!"

After the clones disappeared, leaving the real Naruto behind, Choji immediately turned around and started barreling after Asuma, who, with Shikamaru, immediately ran into the woods, with Choji bashing down the trees. Ino, of course, had already backed away from the whole mess.

"Aw man, this is such a drag!" Shikamaru groaned.

"This is the exact reason I started smoking!" Asuma yelled.

Naruto stared at the three of them (or just Choji since he's blocked out the other two) before charging in after them. "Get back here you big baby! We're not done training yet!"

Ino's eye twitched as she watched Naruto charge into the woods after the giant meatball. But it wasn't until now that she noticed a pair of eyes was watching them. A pair of ghostly white eyes.

"Hinata?"

That's right. Hinata Hyuga had just been caught spying from behind one of the trees. She looked like she was scared stiff. Her lip trembled before she muttered something incomprehensible and ran away.

"Wait a minute!" Ino called to her, but she was already gone. Ino put her hand to her chin. _What was she doing here?_

Ten minutes later…

"Sakura, there's a friend of yours here to see you!"

Sakura made her way downstairs at the sound of her mother's voice. Needless to say, she was a little more than shocked when she saw Ino Yamanaka at her door.

"Hi there, Forehead-chan!"

"Ino…" A vein pulsed in Sakura's oversized forehead. "Unless you're here to make fun of me…"

"Actually," Ino interrupted, "I need to talk to you about something important. May I come in?"

Sakura blinked. A few minutes later, they were back in Sakura's room, as though they were friends again. Ino looked out Sakura's window at the village as she spoke to her.

"Sakura…do you remember that time you came to my flower shop? And you told me you saw a pair of white eyes watching you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Not long ago, while we were training with Naruto, or I guess training was over by then, I caught Hinata spying on us."

Sakura looked up at her friendly rival. "Hinata?"

"Yeah," Ino said, as she chewed on her thumbnail. "This doesn't make sense. Hinata isn't one to spy on people."

"That's not exactly true," Sakura said as Ino turned back to her. "I've noticed that Hinata's been watching Naruto for quite some time."

Ino raised an eyebrow at this comment. "Don't tell me…" And then the other. "You think Hinata has a crush on Naruto??"

"It's pretty obvious," Sakura said, putting her fingers together in a Shikamaru-esque manner. "Not only has she been watching him, but she always blushes whenever she gets really close to him."

Ino folded her arms. "Poor girl…I mean, falling in love with that maniac?"

Sakura privately agreed and stood up. "That's that! We're going to have to have a little girl-to-girl-to-girl chat with her."

Ino's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Girl-to-girl-to…wait. Why do _I_ have to get involved in this?!"

"We are Konoha's genin kunoichi," Sakura explained. "And as such, we always have to look out for each other. Like…when you tried to protect me from those Sound Ninja in the Forest of Death."

Ino closed her eyes as she remembered that time. "Well, that is true…even though I did kinda drag my teammates into the whole mess."

"Ino…"

Ino scratched her head. "Well…I don't know what you have in mind, but…I'll do what I can to help."

Sakura smiled. "Good. The first thing we need to do is…"

"Hinata?"

"Yes, Father?" Hinata asked. She was currently in her room, reading a book called _Only in London._

"Some friends of yours are here to see you," Hiashi's voice replied.

Hinata's eyes widened. She has plenty of nice friends, sure, but only rarely do they actually come to visit. She didn't know what to say. She was anxiously thinking to herself, while putting her index fingers together as she walked downstairs. _I wonder if it's Naruto-kun. No, I doubt it. Maybe it's just Kiba and Shino. Maybe they want to talk about the mission we just completed._

"Hi!"

* * *

Ino: I gotta say, this sucks!

Author: Who asked you?!

Ino: YOU DID!

Sakura: I heard there's going to be a huge tickle fest in the next chapter.

Hinata:gulp: T-tickle??

Author: The next chapter is called **Girl Talk.**

Hinata: I'm not so sure about this.


	2. Girl Talk

Let us continue.

**Chapter 2 – Girl Talk**

Hinata stared in surprise as Ino and Sakura waved at her from the door, both of them smiling ever so sweetly. Hinata put her finger to her lower lip before meeting them at the door.

"H-hello, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan," Hinata said, bowing politely. "What brings you here?"

"We wanted to talk to you about something important," Sakura said.

"And private," Ino added, glancing at Hiashi, who immediately got the message.

"Make yourself at home," Hiashi said as he headed off to train with Neji.

"Thank you very much," Sakura and Ino said simultaneously, before they immediately rounded on each other. "STOP TALKING WHEN I'M TALKING, INO-PIG/FOREHEAD-CHAN!" The two growled at each other while Hinata let fall a bead of sweat on the back of her head before turning to head upstairs. Sakura and Ino immediately stopped growling and followed her into her room.

"So this is your room, huh?" Sakura said. "It's very…"

"Yeah, there's a lot of lavender in here," Ino finished for her.

"What did you want to talk about?" Hinata asked, sitting down on her bed.

Sakura and Ino both looked at each other, trying hard to figure out how to break the ice about the whole thing with Naruto.

"We wanted to have a little talk with you, girl to girl," Ino said, "…to girl." She quickly added as Sakura glared at her.

"About what?"

"It's probably no big deal," Sakura said sweetly, "but we noticed you've been watching Naruto train for the past few weeks…" As she continued speaking, she didn't notice that Hinata's eyes have widened slightly, nor did she notice that Hinata was turning redder than an overripe tomato. "…so we just wanted to know what the deal is."

Hinata nearly jumped off her bed as Sakura finished talking. Hinata lowered her head so that her hair covered her eyes and put her index fingers together again. Ino could tell that at this moment, she would rather be _anywhere_ but here.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hinata said, smiling with such cuteness, it's almost scary. Of course, neither Ino nor Sakura was buying it. She was flat out lying to their faces. The two turned around and whispered to each other.

"So what do you think, Ino-pig?"

"Well, it's obvious she has some sort of feelings for Naruto, but I still want to hear it from the horse's mouth. And stop calling me Ino-pig!"

"Then I guess there's only one thing left to do. And you know what that is." Sakura grinned evilly.

"I thought you'd never ask." Ino grinned even more evilly.

"What are you two talking about?" Hinata asked.

Downstairs…

"I can't believe he forced me to spar with Hanabi," Neji grumbled as he headed toward the stairs. He looked back as a few veins started to pulse before his eyes. "I'm going to get back my hair brush if it's the last thing I do."

"EEEEEEEEEEE! NO! PLEASE STOP!"

"TALK, HINATA!"

Neji's eyes widened. _Hinata!_ Neji bolted upstairs.

"DON'T DO THAT! I BEG YOU!"

"TELL US, DARN YOU!"

He pushed open the door to Hinata's room, only to discover that she was actually laughing her head off.

"…Tickle torture?"

Ino and Sakura stared at Neji as the sight unfolded before his white eyes: Sakura had grabbed Hinata by the ankles, while Ino unzipped Hinata's jacket (don't worry, she still has her black shirt underneath) and was vigorously tickling her ribs, forcing Hinata to laugh so hard she was actually crying for a different reason. Her face was actually redder than before. Eventually, Hinata's laughing died down as she saw her cousin right outside her door.

"B-brother…Neji?"

"I don't even want to know," Neji said stiffly, before sliding the door shut again.

An eerie silence filled the room before Ino spoke up while cracking her fingers. "You know, Hinata, we don't have anything else to do today…"

"All right, I'll tell you," Hinata said quickly. Being tickled was one of her biggest weaknesses. Sakura and Ino sat down on the bed as Hinata zipped up her jacket again and took a deep breath. They wouldn't tell anyone…right?

"Well, at first my feelings for Naruto were…" Hinata paused as she tried to find the right words, "mild, at most. But since the Chunin Exams, my feelings have increased somewhat."

"Go on," Sakura said, readjusting her headband.

Hinata looked down at her hands. "I…I've been watching him for some time now. I've often wondered why. In my match with brother Neji, when Naruto shouted to me, I felt my heart skip a beat and I wasn't afraid anymore. I felt like I could take on the world. But despite that…"

"You still lost," Ino interrupted.

"Ino!" Sakura reprimanded her.

"It's true," Hinata continued, "I did lose that match, but in doing so, I feel I gained something more. I feel like I've changed since then. I'm not as shy and reserved as I used to be." Hinata put her hands to her heart. "I owe so much to Naruto. I really want to thank him for helping me build my courage. And besides…" Hinata turned around, putting her fingers together and avoiding the girls' gazes, "…he…may have seen me naked at one point."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Ino and Sakura stared at Hinata, wide-eyed and jaws gaping. They _really_ didn't expect _that_. They thought for sure they knew the extent of sweet and adorable Hinata. Apparently, they were dead wrong. "But…but…why were you naked?!" Sakura asked, hysterically.

"It's not what you think!" Hinata responded quickly, waving her hands. "I just…I didn't have a choice. During one of our missions, I was training to perfect a new move by this waterfall. It was very humid and my clothes were starting to stick to my body, so I went behind the waterfall to get out of my clothes." As Hinata continued, she started to blush again. "And then…I went back out to train some more...I honestly didn't know he was watching me!"

Ino and Sakura continued to stare at her as she lowered her head a bit. "Um…please don't look at me like that. I don't actually believe he recognized me. He told Kiba that he saw this…'ultra pretty girl' under the waterfall and…"

"OH MY GOD!!" Ino shouted, actually falling off the bed. "HE TOLD KIBA?!"

"And Shino too…I-I think…"

"THAT PERVERT! I'M GONNA SLAUGHTER HIM! CHA!" Sakura yelled at the top of her lungs, punching the air in front of her, completely forgetting that Hinata was there and that she was slightly backing away from her.

"But Sakura," Ino chimed in, "this is good news!"

"It is?" Hinata and Sakura both asked at the same time.

Ino put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and smiled sweetly. "Hinata Hyuga, you've made a lot of progress today. So starting immediately, we're going to help you be more noticeable to Naruto, one way or another."

Sakura could practically smell the evil in Ino's mind seeping out of her ears.

* * *

Hinata: It was me he saw under the waterfall...but I didn't say anything. How could I?

Sakura: It's probably better that way.

Ino: At least we know what to do now. We're gonna help you be more noticeable. Now, let's start with your clothes...

Sakura: Have you heard about this Festival coming up?

Ino: Oh yeah! There's going to be fireworks and everything!

Hanabi: Did someone say my name? (Hanabi Fireworks)

Author: The next chapter is called **Makeover.**

Sakura: Huh? What's _he_ doing here?


	3. Makeover

Let us continue...and thanks for the reviews. ;)

**Chapter 3 – Makeover**

A few minutes later, Ino decided to start by having Hinata gather some clothes from her closet.

"Geez, Ino," Sakura whispered in repugnance, while Hinata was still in there. "You make it sound like she's an ugly pig."

"I'm not saying that at all," Ino responded. "I'm just saying she could use a little more style. Besides, have you felt the material of that jacket? That stuff is heavy! I'm surprised she doesn't get, like, ultra-sweaty in that thing."

"Okay, I'm back," Hinata's voice called as she laid down a pile of clothes on her bed. Ino and Sakura sorted through the clothes, picking out what they feel she would look good in.

"No…" Ino muttered, tossing aside certain articles, "no…no…no…none of these are any good!" Ino lay back on Hinata's bed, sighing deeply and framing Hinata with her thumb and forefingers (_not_ Mind Transfer Jutsu). "We need to find something that can accentuate that cute body."

Hinata stared at Ino. _My body is…cute?_

"What about this?" Sakura held up a pretty violet kimono, which seemed to be made from multiple layers of silk. The kimono had pretty red and yellow patterns near the ends of the sleeves and hem which were comparable to rays of the sun. Ino took the kimono and examined it.

"Oh, that," Hinata said quietly. "Well…I only wear that for special occasions. Formal parties, festivals, and such."

Sakura put a hand to her chin. "I think I know what to do with it. You know the annual Konoha Fireworks Festival is coming up in three days, right?"

Ino smiled and put her hands together. "Oh, I love the Fireworks Festival! Standing there watching those beautiful lights in the sky…hand in hand with your favorite boy…"

"Yeah…" Sakura swooned, also putting her hands together. Hinata felt a sweatdrop on the back of her head. She could tell that Sakura and Ino were thinking about the same boy: Sasuke Uchiha. Honestly, Hinata thought, he was good looking yes, a more than decent fighter, true, but what else does he have?

Elsewhere, somewhere in the Sound Village, a certain Sharingan user sneezed.

"If you like, I can try it on," Hinata said, interrupting their daydreaming.

"Go for it," Sakura said encouragingly, as Hinata unzipped her jacket once again. She felt rather uncomfortable getting undressed in front of others and Sakura and Ino could totally feel her tension.

A minute or so later…

"WHOA!" Sakura cheered. "You look great!"

Ino put her fingers to her mouth and did a "wolf-whistle" causing Hinata to blush hard and Sakura to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Does it really look so good on me?" Hinata asked, shyly. "I-I mean, I don't usually wear it that much."

"Trust me," Ino said, "when Naruto sees you in that, you'll have to literally beat him off with a stick!"

Hinata nodded. "So…should I change back now?"

"Sure," Sakura said. "You won't need it until this weekend. That's when the fireworks start!"

"In the air _and_ on the ground," Ino added with a devious smirk.

Hinata wasn't sure what that meant, but got undressed nonetheless.

About half an hour later, the girls stepped out of the House of Hyuga, Hinata back in her normal coat and black pants.

"Thank you for coming by," Hinata said, bowing politely.

"No problem," Sakura said. "By the way, our little 'mission' is still far from over."

"W-What do you mean?" Hinata suddenly stuttered.

"We still have to find Naruto," Ino explained, "and you still have to ask him to come to the Fireworks Festival."

"Oh!" At that, Hinata blushed again and put her fingers together. "Um…I…uh…"

"Don't worry about a thing, Hinata," Sakura said politely, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find Naruto and ask him for you."

"No," Hinata spoke up with a slight look of determination in her eyes. "I…I want to ask him myself."

"Okay," Sakura responded, "but we still don't know where he is." The girls put their hands to their chins, when a gruff voice interrupted their trains of thought.

"I think I might be able to help!"

And there he was. The one guy who had no business being in this fic whatsoever: Jiraiya the Toad Hermit in all his perverted glory, striking a dramatic kabuki pose with his summoning toad contract tied snugly to his back. The three girls were speechless, until Sakura ran up to him.

"Ero-sennin! I'm glad you're here!"

This comment alone immediately broke Jiraiya's dramatic moment and sent him crashing to the ground, spilling several papers from his pocket.

"What's this?" Ino, Sakura, and Hinata immediately picked up a paper each and read it over quietly, much to the perverted hermit's dismay. He flailed his arms madly, trying to stop the girls from reading, but they ignored him. Halfway through, the girls each put a hand to their mouths, their eyes probably as wide as the full moon in the night sky.

Jiraiya's hand's shook horribly. "My…research…"

* * *

Jiraiya: You know, that really wasn't necessary.

Ino: I can't believe you're still writing this junk!

Jiraiya: IT IS NOT JUNK! This is true art. This is my science! This is what legions of adoring customers always wait for!

Sakura: IT'S PORN!!!

Jiraiya: ...And you're telling me that's not art?

Next chapter: **Nonsense with Ero-Sennin**

Hinata: He...he's staring right at me...


	4. Nonsense with EroSennin

Sorry folks. This one's gonna be a short one. And about Jiraiya, I was desperate for a plot device and he practically begged me to put him in. So I did. To bad he'd regret it, though.

Chapter 4 – Nonsense with Ero-Sennin

Seconds later…

"All right. What did you want to talk about?" Jiraiya said, sitting on a random bench by the river. He was sporting fresh bruises, a black eye, and spots of blood on his clothes, courtesy of the teenage kunoichi (with one exception). Why? What was on those papers? Turns out that one of the female leads happened to have medium-length pink hair, bluish-green eyes, and a rather "outstanding" forehead (before anyone says anything, this female lead was actually 22 years old).

"We're looking for Naruto," Sakura said, causing Jiraiya to look up at her. "We know he trains with you from time to time, so…" But Sakura couldn't finish as the old pervert was trying hard to hold back his laughter.

"Okay, stop," Jiraiya said. "I know where you're going with this." Jiraiya grinned widely, causing Sakura to step back. "Admit it. You want to ask Naruto to come to the Festival with you, riiiiiight??"

It was this comment that caused Hinata to twitch, Ino to sweatdrop, and Sakura to back away from the crazy old man. "It's not like that at all!" Sakura yelled, causing the perverted hermit to stop laughing in the blink of an eye. He knew that, despite his rank as a legendary ninja, Sakura had the potential and the will to beat the ever loving snot out of him. "Look. We've been trying to help Hinata with her self-confidence, so we're trying to set her up with Naruto for the Fireworks Festival."

Jiraiya looked over at Hinata, who averted her eyes. Hinata put up her arms, as though trying to shield herself from the perverted hermit's gaze. If he's as perverted as Naruto says he is, she had reason to fear that he might be able to see right through her clothes. However, as soon as he noticed her ghostly white eyes, Jiraiya closed his own eyes and let out a small laugh. "I should've known. It had to be old Hiashi's girl."

"Hiashi?" Hinata looked back at Jiraiya, a little surprised. "You know my father?"

"Know 'im?" Jiraiya laughed. "Please. Back in the day, we were drinking buddies at one point. Boy, that man could sure make me laugh."

Hinata's eyes widened comically, in a fashion similar to that one scene in episode 185. _My father…drinking?! _She imagined Hiashi Hyuga and Jiraiya, perhaps about 15 or so years younger, both laughing from a drunken stupor. _Go away! Go away! Go away! _Hinata quickly, and quite literally, shooed away this disturbing thought.

"Anyway," Jiraiya continued, "if you're looking for Naruto, he's probably at Ichiraku Ramen. The way I see things, the kid practically lives there."

A gust of wind blew past the four of them as the girls stood there in stunned silence. Honestly, they really should've known. Actually, Hinata did know but couldn't say anything before _and _after Jiraiya made his entrance. And who could blame her?

"Thank you, Ero-sennin!" Sakura said as the three of them left. Well, two of them left, but Hinata stopped halfway.

"I told you before, my name is…" Jiraiya started angrily, but was interrupted by a soft voice.

"Thank you…Master Jiraiya." Hinata bowed quickly and left with the other two.

Jiraiya stared as the girls ran off. _Hinata…and Naruto?_ His forehead protector gleamed as a great idea made him smile like an idiot. He waited until the girls were gone before he started scribbling on a small notepad. _The one-sided love from the quietest girl never seems to reach the loudest boy. What will she do? What will it take? I'm a genius!_

* * *

Naruto: Ichiraku's Ramen is even better than ever!

Hinata: N-Naruto...kun?

Naruto: Oh! Hey, Hinata! You want some ramen too?

Hinata: Actually, I...

Naruto: Uh, your face is turning red again. Are you sick or something?

Next Chapter: **Finding Naruto**

Sakura: There's no way he's this stupid.

A/N: Ooh! Now we're getting to the good parts!


	5. Finding Naruto

Come on, guys. Get your heads in the game. Now, for those of you who read this on Gaia, you may notice that I revised a part of it to make Naruto more...IC (In Character). You'll know the spot.

**Chapter 5 – Finding Naruto**

"Gimme some more, old man!"

Naruto Uzumaki was now on his third bowl of barbecued pork ramen today. It takes a lot of strength to keep up his unending energy. And perhaps even more strength to keep the Nine-Tailed Fox at bay. After all, with the Fox Spirit inside him, he was now eating for two! But no amount of strength could prepare him for what slowly shuffled closer to him.

Hinata was gritting her teeth as she slowly stepped closer and closer to her crush. Her palms felt a little sweaty, but she kept them out of her pockets nonetheless. She briefly looked back at Sakura and Ino, both of whom gave her a thumbs-up while hiding behind a random building. Though this didn't do much for her confidence (while making for a perfect sweatdrop moment), Hinata continued to step toward Naruto, who took a quick break for some water before going back to his ramen. Hinata did her best to reach out and touch Naruto's shoulder, but her hand started to shake before it could get close. It seemed like it could take all day before she could talk to him. In fact, the sun was just starting to set.

"Why doesn't she say something?" Sakura said quietly through gritted teeth. Ino's patience was wearing thin.

"That's it. I'm taking over." Ino started to make the hand signs for her Mind Transfer Jutsu, but Sakura quickly grabbed her wrist.

"No, wait," Sakura told her. It was good timing that Sakura grabbed Ino's wrist, as Hinata finally spoke up.

"N…Naruto-kun?"

Naruto swallowed his food before looking back at Hinata, who was blushing again. "Huh? Hinata?"

"Do you…do you mind if I eat with you?"

Naruto grinned. "Knock yourself out!"

Hinata sat next to Naruto, but still couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with him. _Well…I came this far. Now what do I do?_ Hinata was brought back to her senses when Teuchi, the owner of the bar, spoke to her.

"Miss Hinata," Teuchi said, cheerfully, "I didn't expect to see you here. Can I get you anything?"

"Um…" Hinata eyed the menu carefully. "…Miso ramen, please."

"Coming right up," Teuchi said, heading back with his daughter, Ayame, to start cooking.

"So far so good," Ino said to herself. "All we have to do is leave the rest to…hm?" Ino looked at Sakura, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Are you okay? Earth to Forehead-chan!"

Sakura snapped back to reality. "Oh. I was just thinking…when we were little, you used to do the same thing for me."

"Huh?"

"When all the kids used to make fun of my…'outstanding' forehead (she still remembered what she read in Jiraiya's notes), you told me my forehead was something to be proud of. You gave me confidence in myself, just like we did for Hinata…"

"Hold that thought," Ino interrupted. It looked like something was about to happen at Ichiraku.

"So did you want to talk to me about something?" Naruto asked Hinata, making her accidentally choke on her miso ramen. Naruto had to hit her in the back to get her food to go down properly.

"Thank you," she said hoarsely, before letting out one last cough. "And…yes. I did want to talk to you. (Ino and Sakura listened carefully) Do you…I mean…y-you know of the Konoha Fireworks Festival?"

"Oh man," Naruto said, excited. "I love fireworks! They're so cool!" That's when Naruto actually made the motions of fireworks zooming and bursting in the sky, complete with explosive noises from the back of his throat. While most girls would find this immature ("What is he _doing?!_" Sakura whispered in fury), Hinata actually smiled and giggled at Naruto's antics until he fell back off his seat.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, getting back in his seat. "I've had worse hits. Wait, why'd you ask me about that?"

"Well…you see, I…" Hinata was having trouble keeping eye contact (which was saying something since he was squinting again), "…I don't know if you know…but the Fireworks Festival is this weekend…and…well…" She was trying hard not to rub her fingers together. She hated doing that! It was a reflex she developed as a child and she wished she could stop it. "…I w-wanted to know…if…maybe…"

"Come on," Sakura quietly cheered her on. "You can do it."

"...you would..." Hinata gulped. "...like to...go...with me?"

Naruto's eyes opened. He couldn't believe what was unfolding in front of him. Or rather, struggling to unfold. Did she just ask him out on a date? An actual _date?_

"I mean..." Hinata looked up at him. "...if you want to..."

Naruto folded his arms and closed his eyes again to consider his options. Yes, Hinata was pretty, but his crown jewel would always be Sakura Haruno. But if Naruto so much as opened his mouth to her, she would just close it. With her fist. Ouch. But then again...no other girl would even _consider_ asking him on a date. And yet, there she was: the ultra shy Hinata Hyuga, asking _him_ on a real date! Stuff like this doesn't happen every day, especially to him!

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto opened his eyes again and smiled. "...Sure."

It was as if the music and fireworks had already started. Hinata couldn't believe what she just heard. _Sure_. That means yes! YES! OH GOD, YES! Neither one of them realized that Sakura and Ino were grinning like idiots, but they probably wouldn't have cared. Hinata simply stared at Naruto, as if she were going to cry again.

Naruto blinked. "So...what time should I meet you there?"

This comment snapped Hinata back to reality. "You're...not going to pick me up?"

"Don't get me wrong," Naruto continued. "I want to pick you up. Believe it. But...your dad probably won't let me in." _Not that I'd blame him. He probably knows about the fox, too. _"Besides, I've seen where you live. It's HUGE."

"Oh," Hinata said, "I-I see...Well...whatever time's fine with you..."

"Great! I'll see you there at six!" Naruto put some money on the counter to pay for his food and decided to head home. He stopped halfway when he was called back.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Yeah?"

"Six, you said?"

"Yeah!"

"O-okay."

"Later!"

"Bye…"

In that order, it was Hinata, Naruto, Hinata, Naruto, Hinata, Naruto, and then Hinata, who simply sat in her seat and stared blankly into her half empty bowl of Miso ramen, which was starting to get cold. Even old man Teuchi was starting to worry.

"Miss Hinata?"

That was when Sakura and Ino came out of hiding and smacked Hinata on the back.

"Way to go!" Sakura shouted. "You did it! I mean, it didn't go _exactly_ as I expected. But you did it anyway!"

Hinata didn't respond. There were only a few times where Hinata turned red enough for steam to spout from her ears. One of those times was when Naruto told Kiba about the girl at the waterfall. _This_ was another time. _Me...and Naruto-kun...my first date..._

"Hinata?"

Hinata only responded by fainting face first into her ramen.

"OMIGOD!" Ino yelled. "I THINK WE BROKE HER!"

* * *

Naruto: It's here! It's here at last!

Lee: YES! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I have finally managed Sakura-chan to go on a date with me! ARE YOU WATCHING, GAI-SENSEI?!

Naruto: WHAT?!

Hinata: ...

Naruto: Whoa! Hinata! Is that really you?!

Hinata:blush: ...It's...nothing, really.

Next Chapter: **A Different Kind of Fireworks**

Naruto: Hey, Bushy Brow! What the heck are you doing?!

* * *

No, you did not hear wrong. Come next chapter, it's time for the main event! 


	6. A Different Kind of Fireworks

This is the chapter I'm really proud of. And what's this? More pairings?

**Chapter 6 – A Different Kind of Fireworks**

Saturday. 5:57 p.m.

Finally, the night has arrived. The Konoha Fireworks festival was already off with a bang. Everybody who was anybody (or something like that) was there. Lady Tsunade, of course, was with Shizune for a safety inspection on the fireworks display. The pyrotechnics crew was waiting with bated breath as Tsunade made jotted down some notes on a small notepad and looked up. "I'll allow it."

"YEAH!!"

"WOO!!"

"I LOVE THIS JOB!!"

One could tell the Fireworks crew was pretty happy, as well as Tsunade, who walked away, pocketing her notebook.

"I thought we'd never get done with this," Tsunade said, wiping her brow.

"So what are you going to do now?" Shizune asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tsunade said with a smirk. "There's no casinos in this village, which is an outrage in itself. So I'm gonna get drinkin'!" Tsunade ran off towards the closest bottle of saké she could find with Shizune hot on her heels.

"At least wait until the fireworks start!" Shizune shouted.

But they, of course, were not the first to arrive. Using her unique brand of "persuasion," Ino managed to convince Shino to come with her. Ino, who was currently clinging to Shino's left arm, wore a dark violet kimono with a print of the sun on her back. Shino wore a set of green formal robes which, with his sunglasses, made him look much like a dragonfly. Shikamaru had arrived earlier with Temari, whom he invited earlier on from the Village Hidden in the Sand. He had kept his normal attire and Chunin vest while Temari wore a two toned yellow and purple kimono. Neither one of them seemed happy to see each other, but Ino had actually caught them holding hands at one point or another.

_Shikamaru, you player,_ Ino thought with a wide grin. But truth be told, she actually felt slightly envious that he asked Temari first, but she didn't let it bother her.

Naruto was also there with Choji and both were "sampling" the various foods there. Naruto decided to break tradition and dress nice for the night, wearing a blue pinstriped yukata and black sash. Choji, on the other hand, decided to stick with his normal wear since he couldn't find a date (He probably couldn't ask anyone with his mouth full all the time). Naruto's "fine dining" was cut short when he felt something tug on the back of his robes.

"WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF?!" Naruto immediately spun around ready to punch whatever it was. He looked down to see Konohamaru with his hands over his head and Udon and Moegi not far behind him. Neither Konohamaru nor Udon decided to dress up, although Konohamaru changed his usual blue scarf to a red one with the Hokage fire symbol near the end, but Moegi did wear a little pink kimono which seemed to drop past her ankles.

"Oh, it's you again," Naruto said, unexcited. "What do you guys want?"

"What do you think we want?!" Konohamaru asked, impatiently. "We want you to play with us!"

Naruto frowned, but let uncurl a mischievous fox-like grin. "I can't! 'Cause I've got a date tonight! And I don't need you guys dragging me down!"

"Dragging you down?!" Udon asked in shock.

"Oh, we're dragging you down, huh?!" Konohamaru yelled. "Well if that's the case, then…" He stopped. Realization started to dawn on him as he grinned the same way and nudged Naruto with his elbow. "Oh, I get it! _Someone's_ trying to get a little action, huh, boss?"

"Well…" Naruto scratched his head. "…I wouldn't put it that way."

"So who is it, Naruto-kun?" Moegi asked. "It's Sakura, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, no," Naruto said, with a touch of disappointment in his voice. "She told me she's going with Bushy Brow."

And sure enough, not too far from there, Sakura was chatting with Rock Lee over some assuredly non-alcoholic drinks ("Thank goodness," Lee mentioned). Lee was wearing traditional white martial arts robes, but still kept his orange leg warmers. Sakura was wearing a white kimono with cherry blossom petals lining the hem and a pink sash.

"So who are you going with, boss?" Konohamaru asked. "Is she here yet?"

Naruto folded his arms and closed his eyes. Hinata still hadn't arrived yet. Did she perhaps chicken out? No, that's not like her. _She's_ the one who asked _him_. And like Naruto, she always kept her promises, no matter how difficult they may be. That was his ninja way and that was hers as well! That's when Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto…kun?"

The sight behind Naruto had caused him and the kids to stare in awe. Even Choji actually dropped a piece of eel sushi which was just inches from his mouth. There stood Hinata, in beautiful silk robes of violet and a white sash to hold them together. The way everyone looked at her made Hinata blush like always. Even Naruto couldn't believe just how beautiful Hinata was.

"Whoa…" Konohamaru said.

"Who is that?" Udon asked.

"She's so pretty," Moegi added, making Hinata blush even more.

"Uh…" Naruto still couldn't think of a thing to say. Now _he_ was blushing. "Hi…Hinata. I'm…glad you made it."

Hinata tried hard to keep eye contact with him. "H-Hello…Naruto-kun."

The air between them was beyond tense. Moegi did her best to push Konohamaru and Udon away from them.

"Moegi," Konohamaru protested, "what are you doing?!"

"We have to leave them alone!" Moegi answered, adding on a wink. "Trust me."

Hinata could see that Naruto was starting to sweat. One of them had to say something otherwise they'll just be standing there the whole night.

"Na…"

"Hinata…" Naruto interrupted, "…you look GREAT!"

This comment caused Hinata's eyes to widen. She looked away from him, brushing a lock of black hair from her face. "It's…nothing, really. I only wear this for special occasions."

"You should wear it more often!" Naruto said. "I mean it! You look really cute!"

Hinata's eyes opened wider and Naruto had to put his hands over his mouth. _Wait…what did I just say? _Hinata was blushing so hard, it was likely that she could explode any minute. _He said it…he really thinks I'm cute!_ It was this comment that seemed to be the "on switch" to her confidence. As soon as she was about to talk, she saw a floating heart coming out of nowhere behind Naruto's head. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but soon there were two more.

"N-Naruto-kun?!"

"Huh?" Naruto turned around and screamed like a little girl. He saw flying rubbery hearts everywhere. This was due to the fact that Lee had lost his focus when Sakura finally complimented his hair and now his flying kisses were not just aiming for Sakura, but had completely gone out of control ("Oh, Sakura-chan! I love you!"). Everyone was running away screaming from the barrage of flying hearts, except Tsunade and Shizune, who tried to keep them away from the fireworks, and Choji, who actually tried to catch one in his mouth like a dolphin (or rather, a killer whale)!

"Oh, this is just not right!" Shikamaru shouted as he stood behind Temari, who blew the hearts away with her fan.

"DARN YOU, BUSHY BROW!" Naruto yelled while creating a pair of his shadow clones to help keep them away from Hinata. "CUT IT OUT!"

* * *

Naruto: Whew! Thank goodness that mess is over. Believe it!

Tenten: You know, Neji, those flying hearts could qualify as an actual Ninjutsu.

Neji: Oh please.

Naruto: By the way, Hinata, I wanted to ask you something.

Hinata: W-What is it, Naruto-kun?

Final Chapter: **Show Him You Care**

Naruto: WHAT?! That's it?! IT CAN'T BE THE END! IT CAN'T!!!

Author: Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to barricade Miss Hinata from her fanboys. Oh wait. I forgot. I'm a fanboy too! I'm so bad.


	7. Show Him You Care

**Chapter 7 – Show Him You Care**

After the floating hearts had either been captured, destroyed (popped, really), or swept away by one of Tsunade's janitors (cause she sure wasn't going to keep her office neat), the festival continued as scheduled with only 30 minutes before the fireworks start. Everyone went on with their business and, thankfully, Lee was calmed down (sort of) when Maito Gai had arrived. However, people were given a different reason to stare, when Lee and Gai did their usual dramatic, tear-jerking hug.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GO HOME!" That was Sakura, by the way. It was hard to tell who she was yelling at, but either way it wouldn't matter to her. She decided at this point that going alone would be better off then going with Rock Lee and hoped with every fiber of her soul that Ino was having a worse time than she is right now.

Actually, considering that most of what Shino said somehow related back to insects, Ino wasn't having a half bad time. Over at some random table, they had been having deep conversation about their missions and, partially, their personal lives. Earlier, Shino had bought Ino a pinwheel, which she stuck into her still-short hair, which was tied in a bun. Despite his eyes still being hidden behind his sunglasses, Shino looked like he would throw up if Ino mentioned Sasuke one more time.

"Oh, my Sasuke!" Ino shouted to the heavens, causing Shino's face to turn a pale green. "I would gladly give up my moving parts if only it would bring you back to me!"

Naruto and Hinata stared at her, both at a loss for words. Hinata was munching on some sort of pastry food while Naruto was still admiring how she looked in her kimono. _Man oh man. I still can't believe I'm seeing this. I never thought Hinata would be so…pretty! Wait…_ Naruto stopped to scratch his head. _Why am I thinking like this? Because it's the truth! That's why! _Naruto shook his head. _Oh, snap out of it, you idiot! You said you're gonna be Hokage, right?! You can't let something like this freeze you up! Say something! ANYTHING!_

Hinata looked at Naruto as he struggled with his thoughts. "Naruto-kun? A-are you all right?"

"Huh?" He snapped back to reality and looked at Hinata. He never noticed before, but up close, her eyes were really pretty. Like big white pearls. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" Naruto noticed that Hinata had some icing on her cheek as she turned to him.

"You know you've got a little…uh…" Naruto reached over and wiped some icing off her face with his thumb, causing her to blush again. This blush was only amplified when he stuck the icing his his mouth. "Mmm…not bad. What are those you're eating?"

"Oh…um…Th-these are cinnamon rolls," Hinata responded. "They're really sweet…" _Just like you…Naruto-kun…_

"Let me try one of those." Hinata handed him a warm, particularly gooey cinnamon roll. Naruto wasn't sure how to get around the stickiness of the thing, but decided to bear with it and bite into it. His eyes widened as he chewed and swallowed the first bite before finishing the rest of it.

"D-do you like it?" Hinata asked.

"Do I…like it?" Naruto responded, while clenching his fists. "I LOVE IT! THESE THINGS HAVE GOTTA BE BETTER THAN RAMEN! BELIEVE IT!"

And that's when the Earth exploded. I'm kidding! (Better than ramen? Please!)

Hinata stared at him wide-eyed before giggling softly. That's another thing Naruto thought of. Of all girls, she's the only one who seems to laugh _with_ him and not _at_ him. Why? And why in the world is he thinking about this?

"By the way, that's not what I wanted to ask you," Naruto said, after clearing his throat.

"Mm?" Hinata said briefly before having some water.

"Why me?" Hinata stared at Naruto, trying to figure out his question. "Why would you ask me to come with you?"

It was at that point, Inner Sakura sensed something and smacked the real Sakura in the head. **"Come on, ya idjit! We gotta** **go!"**

"Lee, I've got something to take care of," Sakura said. "I'll be right back."

Lee watched as "darling Sakura-chan" went to go get Ino and drag her away from Shino. Shino did his best to hide his relief and only let out a deep sigh when Sakura and Ino went away.

Hinata did not expect this question. She looked down at her hands to figure out how to put her words together. "It's just…well…I guess…" Naruto couldn't exactly tell he instantly put her on the spot with just that one question. "…I just wanted…to be closer to you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I mean," Hinata tried hard not to make herself sound like an idiot, "since Sasuke left our village, the number of missions has increased dramatically. And w-we barely have any time for ourselves anymore…"

"Yeah, that's true," Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head. "I barely have the time to train anymore myself."

Hinata didn't realize that Sakura and Ino were listening from behind the bushes, nor did _they_ realize that Lee was eavesdropping on _their_ eavesdropping. "I figured…it would be nice…if we could…spend some time together. And…"

Naruto squinted again. "…?"

"And…" Hinata put her hands to her chest, "even though the fireworks haven't started yet…I'm…" At this point, she stared straight into his squinting eyes. "…I'm having so much fun with you, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled. "I'm having fun with you too, Hinata." And in an unexpected move, he quickly hugged her. As he held her, he noticed she was wearing a scented perfume. He didn't know what kind, but he thought it was still nice. And Hinata, of course, was blushing like crazy, all the while repeating in her mind: _Don't faint. Don't faint. Don't faint._

Back in the bushes, the girls sighed as their work was finally done.

"So that's that," Sakura said, wiping her brow. "Although, I gotta admit, seeing Hinata with Naruto, all nice and neat like that…makes me feel a little jealous."

"What's this, now?" Ino asked with a smirk. "I thought this was your idea to hook them up in the first place."

"You need not worry, Sakura-chan!" Lee suddenly piped in, making the girls nearly jump out of the bushes. "I promise, with all the youth in my veins, to be a good boyfriend to you, no matter what!" He gave Sakura his "nice guy pose" as his sincerest form of a promise. If only Gai-Sensei could see his gusto. He would be so proud! Sakura and Ino, of course, were a different case.

"What are you doing here, Lee?" Sakura asked, a little disgruntled. "Were you spying on us?"

"Actually, I went to get you because the fireworks are about to start! And I believe," Lee added for Ino, "that Shino is looking for you as well."

"All right. We're coming." Sakura and Ino got out of the bushes and Ino went back to find Shino. And true to Lee's word, in about three minutes, the fireworks began. Blasts of various colors filled the night sky and added into the clouds ("That's actually really nice," Shikamaru said). There were lots of greens, blues, and yellows intermingling in the sky. Naruto thought he even saw a particular blast of red which strangely seemed to have nine tails. He stopped looking at the sky when he noticed Hinata was clinging to his arm and smiling sweetly.

"Thank you…Naruto-kun."

**THE END**

Hinata: Is it...really?

**Stay tuned for the Epilogue!**

Naruto: SWEET! There's more! Believe it!

Shikamaru: This whole thing is such a drag.


	8. Say Chakra!

Well, it took me a while to figure out how to do this one, but one idea stuck in my head and as such, I'm sticking with it: END CREDITS PHOTO MONTAGE!

**Epilogue - Say Chakra!  
**

During the fireworks, a photographer was taking pictures of anyone who would volunteer for them. There were quite a lot of requests.

There was one with Neji, who looked like he didn't care about the whole thing, and Tenten, who smiled cheerfully.

One picture had both Rock Lee and Sakura both doing the "nice guy pose" complete with matching sparkling teeth! How he managed to talk her into it, I'll never know. But even so, Gai-Sensei would be _so proud_! (Unbelievable.)

There was a picture of a certain gray haired scarecrow reading Make-Out Violence and an adorable shot of Akamaru and Pakkun eating out of the same food dish (note: this did _not_ turn into a Lady and the Tramp incident).

One shot showed Jiraiya chasing after various women (including Shizune) and a following shot had him down on his knees with a large lump on his head, courtesy of the fifth Hokage.

One adorable shot showed Hiashi Hyuga smiling with his arms around Hanabi, who was holding a pinwheel, and Hinata. Even with his Byakugan, Hiashi would never realize that Naruto was right behind him, giving him "bunny ears" (Hinata noticed, but didn't say anything).

There were two shots where Ino actually tried to take off Shino's sunglasses, but he wouldn't let her. Because he's too cool for that!

There were some shots of Kiba, Choji, and Naruto pigging out on different foods (more cinnamon buns for Naruto).

There were three shots of Gai losing to Kakashi in three rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors and one particular shot of Gai crying while doing 500 push-ups.

There were several frames which seemed to animate Konohamaru slowly shoving his finger up Temari's nose (she was too busy admiring the fireworks to notice) and another frame of Temari screaming while attacking the Konohamaru Corps with her fan. The whole fiasco was wound up with a shot of Shikamaru with his hand on his face ("That is so messed up.") and a following shot of Temari with her arms draped over Shikamaru's shoulders. Wait. Was he smiling?

Also, the photographer had actually caught Asuma and Kurenai making out behind one of the buildings. He was consequently paid 800 Ryo to never tell a soul.

Finally, there was an endearing photo of Naruto grinning widely with his arm around a blushing Hinata's shoulder. There was also a following shot of Hinata leaning up to kiss Naruto on the cheek, causing _him_ to actually blush extra hard. To this day, Hinata would never show the photo to her father, to Neji, or even to her younger sister, Hanabi, but even after three years, she would never forget to look at it every day.

**THE END. FOR REAL.**

* * *

Okay, maybe not for real. I have a separate document of scenes I couldn't work into the fanfic, but you'll have to ask me personally for those. But it's still the end.


End file.
